Public inquiry into Emma Caldwell police failings

Iain Packer, 51, was jailed for life after being found guilty of strangling the 27-year-old in 2005. He was interviewed a month after her body was found but it took 19 years to bring him to justice. Family said they now hoped to create a legacy for her and other victims of sexual violence. Senior officers refused to treat Packer as a suspect.

Instead they focused on four other men who were later cleared. A judge-led inquiry into the case will take place in the near future. The case for a public inquiry is ‘clear and compelling’, says Justice Secretary Angela Constance. The announcement comes after both First Minister Humza Yousaf and the justice secretary met Emma’s mother, Margaret Caldwell, earlier this week.

It is time to apply fresh scrutiny to this case, to understand what went wrong to ensure that lessons are learned for the future and to provide answers to all victims and survivors in this case. The Lord Advocate has also confirmed that an external police force will be brought in to investigate the conduct of officers involved in the original inquiry. Four inquiries are already under way in Scotland at a cost so far of £122m, writes BBC Scotland home affairs correspondent Dave Cowan. The Scottish government will have considered what an inquiry into the Emma Caldwell case might achieve.

Today’s announcement means two more are in the pipeline. The inquiry will look into the circumstances surrounding the death of the schoolgirl. The Scottish government has said it will hold the inquiry in due course. Police Scotland has apologised for the failings of Strathclyde Police.

It said it has learned lessons from its own actions, particularly over its pursuit of journalists who brought this scandal to light in 2015. Over 19 years, the Emma Caldwell police inquiry examined more pieces of information than the inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing. The Scottish government has decided the best way to get answers is a public inquiry, no matter the cost or how long it takes. Some of the victims of the murder of Emma Caldwell were raped.

They deserve answers to these questions and the Scottish government wants to get them. The public inquiry will take place in the near future.

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